Kastelorizo Καστελόριζο
The port of Kastelorizo
Location
Kastelorizo
Coordinates	36°9′N 29°35′E / 36.15°N 29.583°E / 36.15; 29.583Coordinates: 36°9′N 29°35′E / 36.15°N 29.583°E / 36.15; 29.583
Location within the region
Government
Country:	Greece
Region:	South Aegean
Regional unit:	Rhodes
Population statistics (as of 2001)
Municipality
- Population:	430
- Area:	11.987 km2 (5 sq mi)
- Density:	36 /km2 (93 /sq mi)
Other
Time zone:	EET/EEST (UTC+2/3)
Elevation (min-max):	0–273 m ­(0–896 ft)
Postal code:	851 11
Telephone:	22460
Auto:	ΚΧ, ΡΟ, PK
Website
www.megisti.gr

Kastelorizo (Greek: Καστελόριζο - Kastelorizo, officially Μεγίστη - Megisti) is a Greek island and municipality located in the southeastern Mediterranean.^[1] It lies roughly 2 km (1 mi) off the south coast of Turkey, about 570 km southeast of Athens and 125 km (78 mi) east of Rhodes, almost halfway between Rhodes and Antalya and 280 km (170 mi) to Cyprus.^[1] Kastelorizo is part of the Rhodes regional unit.^[2]

The meaning of its current official name Megisti (Μεγίστη) is "biggest" or "greatest", but at only 11.987 km² (5 sq mi) in area, it is the smallest of the Dodecanese. The name, however, refers to the fact that it is the largest of the small archipelago.^[1]

Name and Etymology[link]

The island's official name, Megisti (Μέγιστη), is rarely used in Greek, the traditional name Kastelorizo (Καστελόριζο) being common. There are several hypotheses about the origin of the name Kastelorizo, which is thought to date from Byzantine era. There is wide consensus that "Kastello" is derived from the Latin word "castello", meaning "castle", as this word (in the Greek form), was used frequently by Byzantine Greeks. There is some argument on the second part of the name. The arguments are centered on the following possible origins of the word 'rizo':

• 1) 'rizo', being derived from the Italian word "rosso" meaning "red", either from the reddish color of the rocks of the island, or from the reddish color of the castle at sunset, or from the color of the coat of arms of the Great Master of the Knights of Rhodes, Juan Fernandez de Heredia, which stood above the gate of the castle; these arguments are widely discredited as the rocks on the island do not contain any red pigment and the name Kastellorizo, pre dates the arrival of the Knights;^[1] or
• 2) 'rizo', being a corruption of the word "Rhoge", one of the ancient appellations of the nearby island of Rho. If this is correct, the island's modern name is actually an amalgam of the separate island names 'Castello' and 'Rhoge'; or
• 3) 'rizo', being the actual Greek word 'rizon' maintained throughout the centuries, meaning "root", as researched by Greek Historian I.M. Hatzifotis (1996), to signify the "tree roots" of the foothill where the castle was built.

It has gone by several different names in its history, including Kastellorizo (Greek), Castellorizo (Greek name with Italian spelling), Castelrosso (Italian, meaning "Red Castle"), Chateau Rouge (French translation of Italian name) and Turkish: Meis, or Kızılhisar, the former deriving from the island's official name in Greek, the latter meaning Red Castle, a translation of the Italian name.

Geography[link]

Kastelorizo is (with the exception of the nearby islet of Strongýli) the easternmost Greek island and is situated in the Eastern Mediterranean. It lies about 2 kilometers from the Anatolian coastal town of Kaş, more or less half-way between Rhodes and Antalya. Cyprus is about 280 km (170 mi) to the south-east. It is six kilometers long and three kilometers wide, with a surface of 9.2 km². It has a triangular shape, and is oriented from NE to SW. The island features three capes: Agios Stefanos (north), Nifti (east) and Pounenti (south west); between the first two there is a wide and accommodating bay, the island's main harbor, where one finds the only town on the island. Cape Agios Stefanos, the nearest to Anatolia, is 2250m south of the modern Turkish town of Kaş (Greek: Andífli, the Ancient Greek City of Antiphéllos). Cape Nifti lies some greater distance from the Anatolian coast. The island is mountainous, with high and steep coastlines, which become more difficult to access moving west. The soil is composed of limestone, and produces only small amounts of olives, grapes and beans. On the island there is no source of drinking water. The Municipality of Megísti includes the populated offshore islands of Ro (pop. 15) and Strongýli (9) as well as several uninhabited islets. It has a total land area of 11.987 km².

Geology[link]

The island's geology is almost exclusively limestone laid down at the mesozoic/Cenozoic boundary. Due to the lack of significant flora covering the island, the landscape shows many features of karstification. There are a number of notable sea caves including the so called Blue Grotto which is much larger than its namesake in Capri. Exploration undertaken in 2006 by members of the SELAS Caving club of Greece has revealed vertical caves in many parts of the island. The deepest found so far was surveyed to a depth of -60m in March 2006 and will be the subject of further exploration in the future by the same team.

Description of the island[link]

Kastelorizo Village

Panoramic image of Kastelorizo Town

The houses of the town are slender and characterised by wooden balconies and windows of the Anatolian type.^[3] Behind the waterfront, many houses are still in a ruinous state. At the entrance to the harbour, on the east side, stand the single story remnants of the former Italian governate (palazzina della delegazione), erected in 1926 by the Italian architect Florestano Di Fausto, who also designed some of the most important buildings of the Italian period in Rhodes.^[4] Nearby is the island's former Ottoman mosque which dates from the second half of the 18th century and which has been now restored and re-opened as a museum (2007). From here starts the town's quay, which runs along all three sides of the harbour. The central square —Plateia Ethelondon Kastellórizou—lies at the mid-point of the eastern side, near the vessel dock. On the opposite side of the harbour one has a good view from this vantage of Pera Meria, the western quay, and the monasteries of Profitis Elías and Aghia Triadha, the former now an army base.

Above the quay on the eastern side there is a pathway which leads to the Castle of the Knights (14th century). Of it remain the curtain wall, part of a square tower, the remains of a cylindrical tower at the east corner, and toward the sea another cylindrical tower.^[5] A Doric inscription, carved in the rock, attests to the existence of an earlier fortress here during Antiquity.^[5] Inside the tower there is a large covered cistern.^[5]

Ascending the steps on the eastern side of the town, one reaches the suburb of Horafia, where there is a square surrounded by the Church of Agios Yeorgios (1906), with a high dome of Byzantine type, and the Cathedral of Agios Konstandinos and Eleni (1835). It has three naves divided by monolithic granite columns from the temple of Apollo Lykios in Patara (Anatolia).^[3] The columns carry ogival arches. Further east is the small bay known as Mandraki, the secondary harbour of the island.

West of the town, beyond the summit of the island known as Vigla (270 m), stands Paleokastro (old castle), the island's ancient acropolis. This fortified elevation has classical origins (see below, history section): its plan is rectangular and measures 60 x 80 m. In its interior stand an ancient tower, built with square limestone blocks, and large water cisterns. Carved on the base of the castle there is also a Doric inscription, dating back to the 4th or 3rd centuries BC, with references to Megiste (the ancient name of Kastelorizo) and its dependence on Rhodes. On the east side there are remnants of a gateway, or Propylaea.

Transportation[link]

The island is connected with Rhodes by ferry and is served by Kastelorizo Airport. Kastelorizo has 4 boats to Kas, Turkey. There is one small bus in service on Kastellorizo, The bus is used to collect tourists from the airport.

Archipelago between Turkey and Kastelorizo[link]

There are many islets in this area;Volos, near Kalkan (in Greek Kalamaki), Ochendra, Furnachia, Prassonisi, Rho, Tragonera, Marathi, Strongili, Dhassia, Alimentaria, Kekova, besides many rocks and cliffs.^[5] The most important among these islets is Kekova (also named Caravola), not inhabited, which has an area of 4.5 km² and faces the Turkish village of Kaleköy (Simena in antiquity). All these islets were subject to dispute between Italy and Turkey until 1932. According to 1932 Convention between Italy and Turkey all these islets - with the exception of Rho and Strongili - were assigned to Turkey.

History[link]

The island was colonised by Dorian Greeks, who named it Megiste. Inscriptions found at the foot of the Knight's castle confirm that during the Hellenistic period the island was ruled by Rhodes, and formed part of its Peraia. The Rhodians sent an overseer, or epistatis, to monitor events on the island.

Historic map of Kastelorizo by Piri Reis.

During the period of the Byzantine Empire, Kastelorizo was part of the 'Eparchy of the Islands', the capital of which was Rhodes. In 1306 the island was taken over by the Knights of St. John Hospitaller of Jerusalem, headed by Folques de Villaret.^[1] They were on their way from Cyprus to Rhodes, which was conquered three years later, becoming the centre of their Crusader State. They restored the castle, which was thereafter used as prison for disobedient knights. In 1440 the island was occupied by Sultan Djemal-el-din of Egypt, who destroyed the castle.^[1] Ten years later it was conquered by Alfonso V of Aragon, king of Naples, who in 1461 rebuilt the castle and dispatched a governor. Naples regained possession of it until 1512, when it was conquered by Ottoman Sultan Suleiman I.^[1]

On September 22, 1659 during the war over Crete, the island was conquered by Venice and the castle was destroyed again, but the Ottomans were able to regain it again soon after.^[1] Between 1828 and 1833 Kastelórizo joined the Greek insurgents, but after the end of the Greek War of Independence it came back in possession of the Ottoman Empire.^[1]

In 1912, during the Libyan war between Italy and the Ottoman Empire, the inhabitants asked General Ameglio, chief of the Italian occupation forces in Rhodes, for their island to be annexed to Italy. This was refused, and on 14 March 1913 the local population imprisoned the Turkish governor and his Ottoman garrison and proclaimed a provisional government.^[4] In August of the same year, the Greek government sent from Samos a provisional governor supported by gendarmes. But they, too, were expelled by the inhabitants on 20 October 1915. On 28 December 1915, the French navy led by the cruiser Jeanne d'Arc occupied on the island at the behest of a pro-French local party which feared Turkish reprisals. The French quickly blocked another landing attempted on the same day by a Greek contingent of Evzones.^[4] Turkish shore batteries responded to the French occupation by shelling the island, in 1917 succeeding in sinking the British seaplane carrier HMS Ben-my-Chree. Due to the Treaty of Sèvres the island was ultimately assigned to Italy: the Italian navy assumed it from the French on 1 March 1921.^[4] Kastelórizo - under the Italian name Castelrosso, was then integrated in the possession of the Isole Italiane dell'Egeo.

Panoramic view Kastelizo harbour in 1921.

The 1932 Convention between Italy and Turkey, which defined the sea border between the two powers, assigned all the islets of the small archipelago around Kastelorizo except Rho and Strongili to Turkey. During the 1930s it was a stopover for French and British seaplanes. During the Second World War, on 25 February 1941, in the course of Operation Abstention, British Commandos occupied the island, but Italian forces from Rhodes recaptured it some days later. After the British occupation, fearing a German invasion, some of the inhabitants fled to Gaza in Palestine.^[6] When Italy capitulated to the Allies (8 September 1943), the island was occupied again by Allied forces, and it remained under their occupation for the rest of the war. In July 1944, a fuel dump caught fire and spread to an adjacent ammunition dump, thereby destroying half of the homes on the island.

Kastelorizo was assigned to Greece with the Paris Peace Treaties, 1947. In May 1945 it was still under British administration, but on September 15, 1947 effectively came under Greek administration. The island formally joined the Greek State on 7 March 1948 together with the other Dodecanese islands.

The island has become more popular in recent years, among tourists looking for an isolated place in the Dodecanese, thank also to the 1991 Oscar-winning movie Mediterraneo, by Gabriele Salvatores, which is set on the island. Kastelórizo was the only territory of the European Union where the Solar eclipse of 29 March 2006 was visible in its totality.

In 2011, the French ship Dignité-Al Karama, the only member the Freedom Flotilla II that managed to approach Gaza refueled at Kastelorizo. The ship was warmly received by the inhabitants, some of whom remembered about the shelter the island's inhabitants had found in Gaza during World War II.^[6]

Demographics and economy[link]

The population and the economy reached its apogee at the end of the nineteenth century with an estimated 10,000 people residing there. At that time, Kastelorizo was still the only safe harbor along the route between Makri (today's Fethiye) and Beirut.^[4] Its sailing ships traded products from Anatolia (coal, timber, valonia, pine bark) against Egyptian goods (rice, sugar, coffee, tissues and yarns), and carried Anatolian cereals to Rhodes and Cyprus.^[4] On the island there was also a flourishing production of charcoal (much sought after in Alexandria, where it was used for narghile).^[4] Fishing industry—mainly sponges—was important too.^[4]

At the dawn of the twentieth century the decay of the island's economy set in, accelerated by the decline of the Ottoman Empire and the deportation of the Anatolian Greeks in 1923. In the late 1920s the population of the island had dropped to 3,000, while about 8,000 inhabitants lived abroad, predominantly in Australia, Egypt, Greece and the U.S.^[4] At that time the town had 730 inhabited houses, while 675 were already empty, and many ruined.^[4]

The population, according to the 2001 census, now stands at 430. Of these, nearly all live in the town of Megísti, with 406 people. The municipality also includes the islands of Rho with 15 persons and Stroggylí, with 9 persons. Many of its emigrants live in Australia (especially in the cities of Perth and Sydney) where they are known as "Kazzies".

Culture[link]

Kastelorizo was famous for the traditions of its inhabitants. Beautiful, rich and magnificent was the women's dress, of at least three different types. It was made with brilliantly colored fabric, and several necklaces, brooches, pendants and earrings made with ancient Venetian or Byzantines gold coins completed the dress.^[4]

The women's festive dress was made of:

• One or more long silky cloaks (ipokámiso). The most external one was closed on the front by six large filigreed gold or silver buttons. These buttons was shaped as a half-sphere which was depressed in the middle. To the lowest one was hung a small chain with a cross;^[4]
• A pair of short pants (katofóri) whose lower part was made with good quality garment quilted with gold thread;^[4]
• A sleeved jacket (zepuni) made with brilliant colored silk or velvet, opened at the front;^[4]
• Another long underskirt (kavadi), laced with gold thread, also opened at the front;
• A large scarf (zosma) made with three or four silk stripes, quilted with gold or silver thread. It was tied very low on the sides, like a loose belt;^[4]
• A large velvet coat (gunna) decorated with gold and silver lace on the hems and on the back, with *fur lapels: It was always kept open;^[4]
• A woolen cap;^[4]
• A quadrangular wrinkled silken shawl (mandili), decorated with relieved flowers and fringed hems, coloured in white, red and deep blue. Folded diagonally, it was fixed above the cap, with its longest angle fallen on the back almost to the ground, while the side edges were folded on the front or put above the shoulders;^[4]
• The socks were woven with multicolored wool or silk;^[4]
• The shoes were shaped like tipped slippers, and were made of velvet or silk. They were laced with gold or silver thread and shorter than the foot;^[4]

The other types of dress were similar, but not so garish and without fur decorations.^[4] The girl dress was simpler. Also different was the dress of single and engaged girls, and the one of married women and widowers.^[4]

Religion, Customs and superstitions[link]

The engagement, which was decided by the parents, and the wedding, which lasted 15 days, occurred through prescribed and curious ceremonies, having a symbolic and poetic meaning.^[3] The wedding was celebrated on Sunday, in the church of Agios Kostantinos, and an announcement on the main square invited the whole city to participate. Also the baptism and the funeral (with the crying women (praeficae) and the dish with oil and wine crushed on the coffin) had a well established ritual.^[3]

On December 31 and on New Year, groups of children carrying small paperboard boats adorned with ribbons and small flags go around visiting houses, stores and coffee shops, singing good wishes songs and receiving coins and wheat cakes, while the elderly exchange visits.^[3] On the morning of Agios Basilios day, coming back from Liturgy, the men customarily throw with force a pomegranate against the walls of their home, wishing for abundance and happiness for their family. The more seeds spread around the rooms, the more luck the family will have in the coming year.^[3]

During the feast of Agios Elias on February 16 the men jump in the sea several times, and wear the wet clothes the whole day. Those who do not want to participate, are sometimes forced to do so too.^[3]

On Easter, the Liturgy of Resurrection takes place in the open, at midnight, the faithful bearing candles. As soon as the bells starts ringing, the young people let off firecrackers, and the people tell each other the ritual words "Christ resurrected". Then everyone enters the church and takes from the hand of the priest the holy fire, then goes home to light the fire in the fireplace.^[3] On Easter Monday the whole population gathers in the main square, and they remain there the whole day eating, drinking and singing. In the past single girls had to stay at home, but they were allowed to stay in the entrance, where they sang and played with swings.^[3]

On May 1, at dawn, all the girls of the island, in groups, each one carrying a jar, went to get water out of town, but they were not allowed to speak a single word during the route. This water (Amilito Neró, "water of silence") was supposed to bring good luck to the family. Everyone washed him/herself with it in that day, and every utensil and wall of the house was splashed with it. When a girl became engaged, she filled a crystal carafe with it and brought it to the future mother-in-law, who gave her in return a special cake and an odd number of gold coins.^[3]

When a child fell seriously ill, a woman with knowledge of prayers against the evil eye was invited to her/his home. She drew cross signs on the body of the child with a thurible filled with embers and branches of olive tree which had been gathered in the church on Palm Sunday, pronouncing the following words: "Christ came: then he laid down his stick and chased away the snake and the bad neighbor from our home". After this exorcism, the woman would throw the content of the thurible in a bucket filled with water, and then counted the pieces of wood which did not burn. This number was said to be equal to the number of persons who were supposed to have enchanted the sick child. The enchantment of the child was sure, if the olive leaves burned with a loud crackling.^[3] When a man was going to emigrate, gentle, wishful songs were sung to him by his fellows.^[3]

Sister cities[link]

• Perth, Western Australia, Australia
• Antalya, Turkey

References[link]

Sources[link]

• Bertarelli, L.V. (1929) (in Italian). Guida d'Italia, Vol. XVII. Milano: Consociazione Turistica Italiana. 
• Pappas, Nicholas (1994). Castellorizo: An Illustrated History of the Island and its Conquerors. Sydney: Halstead Press. 
• Hatzifotis, I.M. (1996). Kastelorizon. Athens: Topio Publications. 
• Pappas, Nicholas (2002). Near Eastern Dreams: The French Occupation of Castellorizo 1915–1921. Sydney: Halstead Press. 
• Report of SELAS Caving Club expedition to Kastelorizo.

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Kastelorizo

• Official website (English) (Greek)
• The Greeks of the Northern Territory of Australia
• Photoblogs from bRaNdSboRg.CoM
• Small Islands in the Near East

v t e Administrative division of the South Aegean Region Area: 5,286km² • Population: 302,686 (2001) • Capital: Ermoupoli Regional unit of Andros Andros Regional unit of Kalymnos Agathonisi • Astypalaia • Kalymnos • Leipsoi • Leros • Patmos Regional unit of Karpathos Karpathos • Kasos Regional unit of Kea-Kythnos Kea • Kythnos Regional unit of Kos Kos • Nisyros Regional unit of Milos Kimolos • Milos • Serifos • Sifnos Regional unit of Mykonos Mykonos Regional unit of Naxos Amorgos • Naxos and Lesser Cyclades Regional unit of Paros Antiparos • Paros Regional unit of Rhodes Chalki • Kastelorizo • Rhodes • Symi • Tilos Regional unit of Syros Syros-Ermoupoli Regional unit of Thira Anafi • Folegandros • Ios • Sikinos • Thira (Santorini) Regional unit of Tinos Tinos Regional governor: Ioannis Machairidis (el) • Website: www.pnai.gov.gr

Nana Mouskouri
Nana Mouskouri in 2006
Background information
Birth name	Ιωάννα Μούσχουρη (Ioánna Moúschouri)
Born	(1934-10-13) October 13, 1934 (age 77)
Origin	Chania, Crete, Greece
Genres	Jazz, Pop, Folk, Greek folk, World music, Classical
Occupations	Singer
Years active	1958–2008, 2011–present
Labels	Fontana, Polydor, Mercury, Verve, Philips, PolyGram, Universal Music France
Website	Universal Music France

Nana Mouskouri (Greek: Nάνα Μούσχουρη, pronounced [ˈnana ˈmusxuɾi]), born Iōánna Moúschouri (Greek: Ιωάννα Μούσχουρη, [ioˈana ˈmusxuɾi] on October 13, 1934, in Chania, Crete, Greece) is a Greek singer who has sold 300 million records worldwide in a career spanning over five decades^[1][2], which makes her one of the top-selling female singers of all time. Known as "Nána" to her friends and family as a child (note that in Greek her surname is pronounced with the stress on the first syllable - MOOS-hoo-ree - rather than the second), she has recorded songs in many languages, including Greek, French, English, German, Dutch, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Hebrew, Welsh, Mandarin Chinese, Maori and Turkish.

The early years[link]

Nana Mouskouri's family lived in Chania, Crete, where her father, Constantine, worked as a film projectionist in a local cinema. Her mother, Alice, also worked in the same local cinema as an usherette. When Mouskouri was three, her family moved to Athens.

Mouskouri's family sent her and her elder sister, Eugenía or "Jenny", to the Athens Conservatoire. Mouskouri had displayed exceptional musical talent from the age of six. Jenny initially appeared to be the more gifted of the two sisters. Financially unable to support both girls' studies, the parents asked their tutor which one should continue. The tutor conceded that Jenny had the better voice, but Nana was the one with the true inner need to sing. Mouskouri has said that a medical examination revealed a difference in her two vocal cords and this could well account for her remarkable singing voice (in her younger years ranging from a husky, dark alto, which she later dropped, to a ringing coloratura mezzo), as opposed to her breathy, raspy speaking voice.^[3]

Mouskouri's childhood was marked by the German Nazi occupation of Greece. Her father became part of the anti-Nazi resistance movement in Athens. Mouskouri began singing lessons at age 12. As a child, she listened to radio broadcasts of singers such as Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, and Édith Piaf.

In 1950, she was accepted at the Conservatoire. She studied classical music with an emphasis on singing opera. After eight years at the Conservatoire, Mouskouri was encouraged by her friends to experiment with jazz music. She began singing with her friends' jazz group at night. However, when Mouskouri's Conservatory professor found out about Mouskouri's involvement with a genre of music that was not in keeping with her classical studies, he prevented her from sitting for her end-of-year exams.^{[citation needed]} During an episode of "Joanna Lumley's Greek Odyssey", shown on the UK ITV channel in the autumn of 2011, Mouskouri told the actress Joanna Lumley of how she had been scheduled to sing at the amphitheatre at Epidauros with other students of the Conservatoire, when upon arrival at the amphitheatre word came through from the Conservatoire in Athens that she had just been barred from participating in the performance there due to her involvement in light music. Mouskouri subsequently left the Conservatoire and began performing at the Zaki club in Athens.

She began singing jazz in nightclubs with a bias towards Ella Fitzgerald repertoire. In 1957, she recorded her first song, Fascination, in both Greek and English for Odeon/EMI Greece. By 1958 while still performing at the Zaki, she met Greek composer Manos Hadjidakis. Hadjidakis was impressed by Nana’s voice and offered to write songs for her. In 1959 Mouskouri performed Hadjidakis' Kapou Iparchi I Agapi Mou (co-written with poet Nikos Gatsos) at the inaugural Greek Song Festival. The song won first prize, and Mouskouri began to be noticed.

At the 1960 Greek Song Festival, she performed two more Hadjidakis compositions, Timōría ("Punishment") and Kyparissáki ("Little cypress"). Both these songs tied for first prize. Mouskouri performed Kostas Yannidis' composition, Xypna Agapi Mou ("Wake up, my love"), at the Mediterranean Song Festival, held in Barcelona that year. The song won first prize, and she went on to sign a recording contract with Paris-based Philips-Fontana.

In 1961, Mouskouri performed the soundtrack of a German documentary about Greece. This resulted in the German-language single Weiße Rosen aus Athen ("White Roses from Athens"). The song was originally adapted from a folk melody by Hadjidakis. It became a success, selling over a million copies in Germany. The song was later translated into several languages and it went on to become one of Mouskouri's signature tunes.

Family life[link]

Mouskouri has been married twice: firstly at 25, to Yorgos (George) Petsilas^[4], a guitarist in her backing band (the trio "The Athenians") and the first man she'd kissed. They had two children (Nicolas Petsilas in 1968 and Hélène (Lénou) Petsilas (singer) in 1970) but divorced when Mouskouri was 39.^[5] Not long after that, she met her second husband, André Chapelle, then her sound technician, but they did not marry then because she 'didn't want to bring another father into the family' and divorce was against her traditional Greek upbringing.^[5] They eventually married on 13 January 2003, and live primarily in Switzerland.

Life outside Greece[link]

In 1962, she met Quincy Jones, who persuaded her to travel to New York City to record an album of American jazz titled The Girl from Greece Sings. Following that she scored another hit in the United Kingdom with My Colouring Book.

In 1963 she left Greece to live in Paris, where she formed close frienships with the singer-songwriter Barbara and other leaders of French chanson.^[6] Mouskouri performed Luxembourg's entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1963 that year, À Force de Prier. The song achieved success, and helped win her the prestigious Grand Prix du Disque in France. Mouskouri soon attracted the attention of French composer Michel Legrand, who composed for her two major French hits Les Parapluies de Cherbourg (1964) and an arrangement of Katherine K. Davis' Carol of the Drum, L'Enfant au Tambour (1965).

In 1965 she recorded her second English-language album to be released in the United States, entitled Nana Sings. American calypso musician Harry Belafonte heard and liked the album. Belafonte brought Mouskouri on tour with him through 1966. They teamed for a live duo album entitled An Evening With Belafonte/Mouskouri. During this tour, Belafonte suggested that Mouskouri remove her signature black-rimmed glasses when on stage. She was so unhappy with the request that she wanted to quit the show after only two days. Finally, Belafonte relented and respected her wishes to perform while wearing glasses.^[7]

Mouskouri's 1967 French album Le Jour Où la Colombe raised her to super-stardom in France. This album featured many of her French songs, Au Cœur de Septembre, Adieu Angélina, Robe Bleue, Robe Blanche and the French pop classic Le Temps des Cerises. Mouskouri made her first appearance at Paris' legendary Olympia concert theatre the same year, singing French pop, Greek folk, and Hadjidakis numbers.

In 1968, Mouskouri was invited to host a BBC TV series called Presenting Nana Mouskouri. The next year she released a full-length British LP, Over and Over. The LP spent almost two years in the UK charts. She expanded her concert tour to Australia (where she met Frank Hardy, who followed her to the south of France in 1976), New Zealand and Japan. She recorded several Japanese songs for the Japanese market.

In France, she released a series of top-selling albums that included Comme un Soleil, Une Voix Qui Vient du Cœur, Vieilles Chansons de France, and Quand Tu Chantes!.

Middle years[link]

In 1979, Mouskouri released another English-language album named Roses and Sunshine. This album consisting largely of folk and country material, and included work from sources as Neil Young, Dolly Parton, Bob Dylan and John Denver. It was well received in Canada, and one of the album's tracks, "Even Now" (not the same song as the 1978 Barry Manilow hit), became a staple on beautiful music radio stations in the United States. She scored a worldwide hit in 1981 with Je Chante Avec Toi, Liberté, which was translated into several languages after its success in France. The momentum from this album also helped boost her following German album, Meine Lieder sind mein Leben. In 1984, Mouskouri returned to Greece for her first live performance in her homeland since 1962.

In 1985, Mouskouri recorded Only Love, the theme song to the BBC TV series Mistral's Daughter — based upon the novel by Judith Krantz — that reached #2 in the UK charts. The song was also a hit in its foreign language versions: L'Amour en Héritage (French), Come un'eredità (Italian), La dicha del amor (Spanish), and Aber die Liebe bleibt (German). The German version was also recorded with an alternate set of lyrics under the title Der wilde Wein but was withdrawn in favour of Aber die Liebe bleibt.

That same year, Mouskouri made a play for the Spanish-language market with the hit single Con Todo el Alma. The song was a major success in Spain, Argentina and Chile.

She released five albums in different languages in 1987, and the following year returned to her classical conservatory roots with the double LP The Classical Nana (aka Nana Classique), which featured adaptations of classical songs and excerpts from opera. By the end of 1987, she had performed a series of concerts in Asia, including South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Thailand.

Autobiography[link]

A French language autobiography appeared in 1989 titled "Chanter ma vie" (Singing my life), which is also the title of her French version of ABBA's "I Have a Dream".

In 2006, Greek publisher A.A. Livanis published a biography in Greek titled "To onoma mou ine Nana" (My name is Nana). In autumn 2007, the French and English versions of this biography appeared under the titles "Nana Mouskouri — Memoires — La fille de la Chauve-souris" (XO publishers) and "Nana Mouskouri — Memoirs" (Orion Publishing Group).^[8]

The later years[link]

Mouskouri's 1991 English album, Only Love: The Best of Nana Mouskouri became her best-selling release in the United States. She spent much of the 1990s touring the globe. Among her early 1990s albums were spiritual music, Gospel (1990), the Spanish-language Nuestras Canciones, the multilingual, Mediterranean-themed Côté Sud, Côté Coeur (1992), Dix Mille Ans Encore, Falling in Love Again: Great Songs From the Movies. Falling in Love featured two duets with Harry Belafonte.

In 1993, Mouskouri recorded the album, Hollywood. Produced by Michel Legrand it was a collection of famous songs from films, and served not only as a tribute to the world of cinema, but also as a personal reference to childhood memories of sitting with her father in his projection room in Crete.^{[citation needed]}

She recorded several more albums over 1996 and 1997, including the Spanish Nana Latina (which featured duets with Julio Iglesias and Mercedes Sosa), the English-language Return to Love, and the French pop classics, Hommages. In 1997, she staged a high-profile Concert for Peace at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York. This concert was later released as an album, and aired as a TV special on PBS in the U.S.

UNICEF/Politics[link]

Mouskouri was appointed as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 1993

Mouskouri was appointed a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in October 1993.^[9] She took over from the previous ambassador, the recently deceased actress Audrey Hepburn. Mouskouri's first U.N. mission took her to Bosnia to draw attention to the plight of children affected by Bosnian war. She went on to give a series of fund-raising concerts in Sweden and Belgium.

She was elected a Member of the European Parliament from 1994 until 1999, when she resigned from her position as an MEP. Several reasons have been given for this, one being her pacifism, and another being that she felt ill-equipped for the day-to-day work of a politician.^[10]

21st century and retirement[link]

Mouskouri lives in Switzerland with Chapelle, and, until her final performance in 2008, performed hundreds of concerts every year throughout her career. In 2004, her French record company released a 34-CD box set of more than 600 of Mouskouri's mostly-French songs. In 2006 she made a guest appearance at that year's Eurovision Song Contest which was held, for the first time ever, in her native Greece.

The ancient Herodes Atticus Theatre, in Athens, Greece.

In the same year, she announced her plans to retire. From 2005 until 2008, she conducted a farewell concert tour of Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Asia, South America, the United States, and Canada. On July 23 and 24, 2008, Mouskouri gave her two final 'Farewell Concert' performances at the ancient Herodes Atticus Theatre, in Athens, Greece, before a packed stadium, including Greece's Prime Minister and Athens mayor, plus the mayors of Berlin, Paris and Luxembourg, along with fans from around the world and thousands of her Athenian admirers.^[1]

In 2010, in response to the financial situation in Greece caused by excessive deficit,^[11] Mouskouri announced that she would forgo her pension to contribute to the country's recovery. She commented: "Everywhere I see stories about my country going bankrupt. And people are aggressive about it. It's frightening. And it's painful for me. Nobody wants their country to be treated badly. It's frustrating and very sad."^[5]

In late 2011 Mouskouri released two newly-recorded CDs, the first featuring songs of the Greek Islands, recorded with other Greek singers, and the second featuring duets with French contemporaries. In late November 2011 Mouskouri sang again at single one-off concert, with guests, in Berlin, commemorating the 50th anniversary of her hit single "The White Rose of Athens".^[12] Dates of a multi-city tour of Germany in early 2012 have also been announced.

Record sales[link]

Universal Music Group, which has over the decades come to acquire virtually all the labels under which Mouskouri recorded, claims that Nana Mouskouri has sold nearly 400 million discs worldwide,^[1][13] recording about 1,500 songs in 15 languages on 450 albums. She has more than 230 gold and platinum albums worldwide, making her a candidate for the best-selling female recording artist of all time.^[2]

Impersonators[link]

The British comedian Benny Hill impersonated Mouskouri on The Benny Hill Show. He wore long dresses and long black hair, that he stroked back, and talked and sang with a slow and quiet voice. He described the songs with long and verbose introductions before singing them.^[14]

Partial discography[link]

Autobiographies[link]

• Chanter ma vie, by Nana Mouskouri, Grasset ed., 1989. ISBN 2-246-39211-X and ISBN 978-2-246-39211-8. (French)
• Το όνομά μου είναι Νάνα (To onoma mou einai Nana) (My Name Is Nana), by Nana Mouskouri, Livani Publishing, 2006. ISBN 960-14-1341-3, ISBN-13 978-960-14-1341-9. (Greek)
• Memoirs, by Nana Mouskouri, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, ISBN 0-297-84469-5 and ISBN 978-0-297-84469-3. (English)
• Mémoires: La fille de la chauve-souris, by Nana Mouskouri, XO Éditions, ISBN 2-84563-311-4 and ISBN 978-2-84563-311-7. (French)
• Stimme der Sehnsucht: Meine Erinnerungen by Nana Mouskouri, translated by Ulrike Lelickens, Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf. ISBN 3-89602-848-0 and ISBN 978-3-89602-848-8. (German)

See also[link]

	Biography portal
	Music portal
	Greece portal
	Eurovision portal

• Best selling music artists
• List of Cretans
• Music of France

References[link]

• (French)(English)(Spanish)

This article incorporates information from the German Wikipedia. Site québécois de Nana Mouskouri Biography, discography by language, list of 1 800 recordings, covers magazines, TV in Quebec, drawings, memories et topicalities.

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Nana Mouskouri

Official

• Nana Mouskouri's profile at UNICEF
• Official website – (English) (German)
• Nana Mouskouri at Universal Music France

Biographies

• Nana Mouskouri at Allmusic

Discography

• Nana Mouskouri discography at MusicBrainz

Filmography

• Nana Mouskouri at AllRovi